By Jimmy McCumber

The Albright College women's basketball team held #8 Messiah without a field goal for almost seven minutes down the stretch but came up short, falling 53-43 on Saturday in Grantham, Pa.

Freshman Kelecia Harris just missed another double-double, finishing with 12 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Sophomore Tara Sabotchick was also in double-figures with 10 points.

Down 48-35 late, Harris converted a layup with 5:43 to play. Senior Kari Ludy stole the inbounds pass and finished it off, suddenly cutting the gap to nine points.

Harris pulled down a missed three-pointer on the offensive boards, then knocked down a shot while being fouled hard to make it 48-41. With 2:17 remaining, Amanda Tiritilli lobbed Harris for another basket, getting Albright to within five points at 48-43.

The hosts turned the ball over but Messiah's Dori Gyori stripped Harris, and Taylor Miller converted a free throw to end a 5:57 Falcon scoring slump as Albright's comeback bid ran out of steam.

The Lions had battled the nation's eighth-ranked team throughout a fierce first half that featured 13 lead changes.

Sabotchick opened the scoring with a lay-up, 2:31 into the action. The teams would trade two-point baskets for a stretch of over four minutes, before Tiritilli's three-pointer put Albright up 13-11.

Off a turnover, Sabotchick's jumper gave the Lions their largest advantage of the game, 15-11. Sabotchick later rolled in a shot out of a timeout, as Albright was ahead 20-19 in what would be their final lead of the day.

Miller's trey put the Falcons ahead for good, 22-20, although Ludy kept Albright within two points with a basket, two minutes before halftime. Gyori converted an and-one in transition, and another Messiah basket put the hosts ahead 29-22 at halftime.

Jessica Venturelli opened the second half with a three-pointer to cut the gap to four points, with Sabotchick and Shawn Barczynski maintaining that deficit with baskets.

Harris made a difficult, twisting bank shot with 13:34 remaining to make it 37-33 Messiah, but the Falcons answered with an 11-2 run before Albright fought back late in the contest.

The Lions shot an solid 44.4% from the floor, while holding the undefeated Falcons to just 31.7% shooting. The killer statistic was turnovers, as Albright committed 30 giveaways to 15 for Messiah.

Messiah head coach Mike Miller earned an historic 500th career victory, in his 27th season. The Falcons stay perfect at 7-0, 4-0, while Albright falls to 4-4, 2-2.